Great expectation is sometimes a result of high praise and continued excellence. Much will be expected of the 2012 University of Denver men's lacrosse team after a stellar 2011 campaign. The Pioneers have the clout and the hardware to be considered one of the premiere programs in the country, but you would never know it from the way this year's coaches and players are approaching the coming season.
DU men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney returns one of the most dynamic offenses in the country from a team that went on a school record 12-game winning streak in 2011 en route to DU's first-ever Final Four appearance. But the team's previous success has not created any sense of entitlement; instead it has developed an aura of humility and hunger that the Pioneers will carry into the 2012 season.
"The good news is we're not satisfied," Tierney said. "People pat us on the back, they tell us what a great year 2011 was and what a great run we had. We feel really blessed and are humbled and thankful that 2011 happened but now it's time. Last season was great, but we have bigger goals for 2012."
Despite the disappointment that came with a loss in the national semifinal to eventual NCAA Champion Virginia, Denver has again placed itself in a position to improve on last season's stellar performance and achieve another first for the program - winning a national championship.
The success of the 2012 Pioneers will be a collective effort, with Tierney returning his deepest team yet as he enters his third year at Denver. Headlining the major contributors will be senior attackmen Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) and Alex Demopoulos (Canton, Conn.), both USILA All-Americans who were recently selected in the 2012 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Draft. Matthews will be looked upon to carry the offensive load on a team filled with scoring threats. The Inside Lacrosse (IL) Preseason First Team All-American has amassed 152 career points over his three seasons at DU and also made IL's 2012 National Player of the Year Watch List.
Demopoulos, who was tabbed as a preseason Third Team All-American by IL, enjoyed a phenomenal junior campaign, finishing with a team-high 28 assists and All-ECAC Second Team honors. The senior duo will look to lead the Pioneers into a 2012 season which will provide numerous challenges and roadblocks on their way to their third straight ECAC Championship and another NCAA Tournament berth. But Matthews and Demopoulos will not be alone in the push for another Final Four run as Denver's roster is again loaded with talent on the offensive end.
"We feel like we finally have depth," Tierney said. "We feel like with the depth we have now that we've been waiting on for two years, we finally have a lot of guys who can step in and give us valuable moments."
ATTACKMEN
Aside from the apparent threat that Matthews and Demopoulos pose, the Pioneers have a barrage of underclassmen that will be looking to take some of the burden off of the senior duo. Junior Eric Law (Centennial, Colo.) will be key in the success of the 2012 Pioneers. A phenomenally gifted athlete who joined Denver after transferring from D-III Salisbury University, Law played one of his best games during the Final Four, posting a season-high five points in DU's loss to Virginia. The Colorado-native now has the opportunity to surface as a dominant attackman for a Pioneer team that will need others to step up when opponents keying-in on Matthews and Demopoulos.
A pair of newcomers has also caught the attention of the coaching staff. Freshmen attackmen Sean Cannizzaro (Cazenovia, N.Y.) and Eric Adamson (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) are two of the most promising fresh faces at their respective positions. Despite being a Top-100 recruit nationally according to IL, Cannizzaro will be overlooked on the field, just as he was during his recruiting process, because of his size, but he is one of the best young attackmen on a team that has seen its fair share of greats.
Adamson, who was picked up by DU late in the recruiting process, has been the biggest surprise thus far. He's a strong and athletic attacker who reminds the coaching staff a lot of former DU and current MLL player Todd Baxter.
MIDFIELDERS
The midfield position is led by three IL Preseason All-Americans in juniors Cameron Flint (Georgetown, Canada), Chase Carraro (Louisville, Kentucky) and sophomore Jeremy Noble (Orangeville, Ontario). Flint was fourth in points (38) for Denver in 2011, scoring 27 times and adding 11 assists. Carraro recorded 21 points and was the premiere Pioneer at the face-off position in 2011, winning 58.2 percent (235-404) of the time. DU's face-off game was ranked fifth-best in the nation in IL's preseason rankings and freshman Chace Calkin (Englewood, Colo.) has the potential to bolster the midfield position in his second season in crimson and gold. The staff is hoping Calkin can take some of the pressure off of Carraro, and prevent much of the wear and tear the junior endured during the face-off game last season.
Tierney refers to Flint and Noble as an anomaly in D-I college lacrosse as the duo can play both ends of the field, a rarity in the field game today. Noble returns for his second season after scoring 34 points and becoming DU's first ever NCAA All-Tournament Team selection in 2011.
DEFENDERS
The Pioneers' defense took the biggest hit of all after losing much of their core group from 2011 due to graduation. Kyle Hercher (Littleton, Colo.) will look to spearhead the defense after the Pioneers featured a group that held opponents to only 8.57 goals per game and forced 153 turnovers in 2011. To the pleasure of Tierney, redshirt-sophomore Drew Babb (Centennial, Colo.) returns to the Pioneer defense in 2012 after battling with Hodgkin's disease during his first two seasons. Aside from his journey and the courage he has shown throughout his recovery process, he will be a vital piece to the Pioneer defense in 2012.
"Defensively we have to build that depth, we aren't quite there yet defensively," Tierney said. "But we certainly feel through recruiting and through recovery from injury that we have enough good people there-we're just not as sure defensively who those guys are going to be as we are on the offensive end."
A few newcomers have also worked their way into the conversation for playing time on the defense, specifically freshmen Carson Cannon (Stillwater, Minn.) and Mike Riis (Carlsbad, Calif.). Cannon is very rangy defensively and has a good chance to start as a freshman along with Riis.
GOALKEEPERS
Sophomore Jamie Faus (Lakeville, Conn.) returns after earning All-American accolades last season. The 2011 ECAC Rookie of the Year and All-ECAC Second Team selection has the tools to have an even better year for the Pioneers this season, and will be looked upon to take more of a leadership role regardless of his experience. Freshman goalkeeper Ryan LaPlante (Fort Collins, Colo.) has proven to be a promising second-option to Faus. The 2011 ESPN Rise Top-20 goalie recruit has the potential to play in his first season depending on how well Faus performs this year. Regardless of his playing time in his first season, LaPlante brings much-needed talent to the defensive side and will be looked on to contribute to Denver's future success.
2012 SCHEDULE
The Pioneers have again loaded their schedule with some of the top teams across the nation. IL ranked Denver's strength of schedule No. 28, with the marquee contest coming in April when the Duke Blue Devils visit Denver, Colo., during Inside Lacrosse's Mile High City Classic at Sports Authority Field. Continuing the annual series with Duke is crucial for the Pioneers, but just as huge was the addition of Penn State and Cornell to the 2012 slate. The Nittany Lions are an underrated bunch and Ivy League-power Cornell has always been a contender, especially this season with 2011 USILA National Player of the Year Rob Pannell returning for his final season with the Bears.
DU was scheduled to take on Syracuse at some point in 2012, but the Orange backed out forcing DU to search for other opponents to challenge itself against. According to Tierney, the disappointment of the Syracuse game falling through has motivated the Pioneers even more to prove to the nation that 2011 was no fluke. They have scheduled an exhibition game with Team USA the last weekend in January - a contest that will hopefully prep Denver for the rough road ahead in 2012.
The Pioneers will open the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, Feb. 25 as they host the DU Face-Off Classic. Denver will play Michigan, following the first game of the day between Air Force and Robert Morris, making it the first ever DI lacrosse game for Michigan.
Denver welcomes a very underrated Hartford team to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on March 3 following the DU Face-Off Classic. Denver's schedule becomes more challenging when locations are taken into account, as the Crimson and Gold will be the away team in all three contests against Penn State (March 10) and perennial powers Notre Dame (March 18) and Cornell (March 20). Tierney scheduled the Notre Dame and Cornell contests close together purposely, hoping his team will respond positively and learn from any adversity encountered on that trip.
"That will be two of the toughest teams in the country in a matter of three days, traveling half way across the country, from Indiana to Long Island to do so," Tierney said. "If we're going to be in Final Fours and eventually win a national championship you have to play two big games in three days, and so that was the mindset with that. We've put some challenges up to our guys."
Denver opens ECAC-play on March 24 in USAFA, Colo., with Air Force being the first roadblock in DU's run for a third-straight ECAC regular season championship. Following their final conference road contest of the season at Fairfield (April 21), Denver will face-off against Duke in the Mile High City Classic, presented by Inside Lacrosse on Friday, April 27 at Sports Authority Field.
"It's really a tough schedule, but a fair schedule at the same time," Tierney said. "We don't want to lose on Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend-we want to play on championship day - we want to hoist the championship trophy. Our guys know now what it takes and if we're able to get close to that situation next time, I think we'll react to it a little bit better."
